The Indie Game Awards 2012

In many ways, indie games deserve a heck of a lot more praise than AAA games. After all, it’s one thing making an excellent game when you’ve got ten ga-jillion-dollars to do it with, and something quite different when you’ve got a small team and a packet of peanuts.

Many indie games fall flat on their face (though we still remember them fondly). Others soar above the stars, looking down on the world of gaming, setting an example of what indie gaming can achieve.

It’s to this second list of games that we look now: to the best indie games of 2012, the ones that set the world alight. Without further ado, here are the top 10 best indie games of 2012.

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The Top 10 Indie Games of 2012

10. Spelunky (Xbox 360)

Given the choice out of a free version of a game or a paid version, you’d quite likely opt for the free version—and most times you’d be right. Spelunky is one game that’s worth getting the paid version of. It looks awesome, has great gameplay and some brilliant unlockables. What’s more, if you’re looking for replay value you’re going to get more than your money’s worth with Spelunky.

9. Katawa Shoujo (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Controversy is the word as far as Katawa Shoujo is concerned. A feeware, indie dating sim visual novel set in a children and teenagers disabled school. . . (seem , I really did mean it when I said it was controversial). You play Hisao, a boy who discovers he has cardiac dysrhtthmia.

With outstanding drama and high production values, Katawa Shoujo is a must-place game and one of the best indie-games of the year.

8. Hotline Miami (Windows)

Hotline Miami is simultaneously typical and unique (which isn’t easy to pull off, let me tel ya). You play in a top-down game, shooting enemies in ultra violent brilliance. Once you complete the game as Jacket you then get to play the whole game through again as a totally different character. Hotline Miami is ultra violent brutality at its best.

7: Quiet, Please! (Nostatic Software)

I absolutely love the theme and style of Quiet, Please! in the game, you’re given a simple quest: find some peace and quiet. And, to be fair, you get that quiet soon enough as the game’s only an hour long. But what an hour! We’re talking cuteness, adorability and the sort of feeling that makes you want to wrap up in a warm blanket and have a cup of tea . . . oh wait, was that just me?!

6. Retro City Rampage (PS3, PS Vita, Wii, Windows, Xbox 360)

One of the indie games on this list to have covered the biggest market, Retro City Rampage is like a NES version of Grand Theft Auto that parodies and jokes about pop culture with exquisite wit and humour. Thanks to its pop culture references its also the type of game literally anyone can pick up and enjoy.